Siege of Orleans

The Siege of Orleans (12 October 1428-8 May 1429) was the turning point of the Hundred Years' War. The French commander Joan of Arc, convinced that God had sent her to drive the English from France, inspired the beleaguered defenders of the city to counterattack against the English, and the English were decisively defeated. The triumph at Orleans was France's first major victory since their disastrous loss at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

At the time of the siege, Orleans was the northernmost French city still loyal to the Dauphin Charles, the uncrowned "King of France". An army of 4,000 English and 1,500 Burgundian troops laid siege to Orleans, which was defended by 6,400 soldiers and 3,000 armed citizens, commanded by Charles' cousin Jean de Dunois. The English had several successes at the start of the siege, conquering the Tourelles turreted gatehouse. The great citadel of Orleans was in danger of falling, but the English commander, the Earl of Salisbury, was killed by debris flung upwards from a cannon shot, and French reinforcements under Jean de Brosse arrived. In March 1429, the French peasant girl Joan of Arc, convinced she had a mission to set the Dauphin on the French throne, arrived at the French camp and was given command of a large portion of the army on the Dauphin's orders. On 6 May, Joan led a successful assault on the Boulevart-Tourelles-Augustines complex, and she then proceeded to assault the Tourelles itself on 7 May. She was wounded by a crossbow bolt, but the French followed a wounded Joan up the ladders and into the gatehouse, seizing it from the English and slaying their commander, William Glasdale. The English lost the south bank of the Loire as a result, and there was now no point on continuing the siege, as Orleans could now be supplied indefinitely. Joan, the "Maid of Orleans", was now a national hero, and she proceeded to reconquer the Loire Valley after the siege's end.